One piece viewfinder and fabrication process
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsAlan V. VanDeMoere, Ralph M. Lyon, Edward N. Balling
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A unibody viewfinder for use in a single use camera includes a pair of optically aligned lenses integrally connected to a support structure which may, for instance, be the top surface of such a camera. A mold and method for making the viewfinder in a single molding process includes means for retracting the lens-forming elements to allow release of the viewfinder despite the presence of undercuts in the finished product.
Claims53
A unibody viewfinder, comprising:
- a support;
- and
- at least two optical lenses aligned along a common principal axis, said lenses being integral with said support by simultaneously molding together said lenses and said support from a common material in a single molding process.
In an apparatus for capturing images on photographic film by exposing said film to light, said film being prepackaged within said apparatus, a viewfinder system, comprising:
- a unibody viewfinder having a support and at least two lenses;
- and
- said lenses aligned along a common principal axis, said lenses being integral with said support by simultaneously molding together said lenses and said support from a common material in a single molding process.
A mold for molding a viewfinder system, comprising:
- an upper molding member having a first molding surface;
- a lower molding member having a second molding surface, the molding surfaces being spaced-apart and in fluid communication with each other when said mold is in a molding position in order to form a molding volume therebetween;
- said mold having at least two pairs of lens forming lens nubbins, each of said lens nubbins having a highly polished surface, the surfaces of each lens nubbin of said pair facing one another to define a lens molding region in said molding volume, said surfaces of said lens nubbins being generally perpendicular with respect to said molding surfaces.
A mold for molding a viewfinder system comprising:
- means for providing a molding volume including a plurality of lens volumes and a support volume, said lens and support volumes being in fluid communication with each other, said providing means being positionable between a molding position and a release position;
- lens forming means attached to said providing means for forming a pair of lenses and a support extending between said lenses inside said molding volume;
- and
- means for moving said lens forming means from a lens molding position to a lens release position.
A method of making a viewfinder system having at least two lenses in optical alignment, comprising:
- providing a molding volume having inner surfaces defining a support volume and two or more lens volumes defined by pairs of spaced-apart movable lens nubbins, each lens nubbin having an optical-lens-forming surface;
- disposing said lens nubbins in a molding position;
- injecting said molding volume with a lens-forming material;
- forming said viewfinder system by hardening said material;
- and
- retracting said lens nubbins in order to release the viewfinder system from said mold.
A disposable single-use camera comprising a taking lens for receiving an focusing an image of an object onto a focal plane,
- a roll of film having a plurality of frames selectively movable in sequential order into said focal plane,
- means for advancing the film frames into and out of said focal plane,
- a camera housing for housing said roll of film and said means for advancing, said housing having a top cover attached to said housing said top cover having a support integrally formed with at least two viewfinder lenses in optical alignment with each other.
A method of making a unibody viewfinder having a plurality of lenses and sharing a common principal axis comprising:
- providing a mold having a molding volume corresponding to said unibody viewfinder, said mold including a plurality of lens volumes and a support volume being in fluid communication with said lens volumes,
- introducing a molding material into said mold to fill said molding volume;
- solidifying said molding material in said mold to integrally form the unibody viewfinder with a plurality of lenses and a support,
- removing said viewfinder from said mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.